Rail campaign to host free event in Strule Arts Centre

A CAMPAIGN event is to be held at The Strue Arts Centre calling for the reopening of two key railways in the west of Ulster that were closed in the 1950s and 60s.

Rail lobby ‘Into The West’ will host the event they campaign for the improvement and expansion of rail across counties Tyrone, Derry, Fermanagh and Donegal.

The organisation was founded in 2004 when they successfully defeated a proposal by civil servants to shut the Derry-Belfast rail line west of Ballymena.

Since then, they have also secured a major track upgrade of the Derry-Coleraine line and a new transport hub at Derry’s historic Duke Street station. In recent years the organisation has broadened its focus on making the case for the restoration of key rail routes across the west of Ulster.

And now they are launching a campaign for what they describe as ‘the number one rail-reopening priority on the island’.

The North West Rail Corridor route would see trains start in Letterkenny and travel through Derry, Strabane/Lifford, Omagh and Dungannon to Portadown, from where they would continue onwards to Belfast or Dublin via the existing rail network. Indicative journey times would be 1hr 25mins from Omagh to Belfast, 2hrs 10mins from Omagh to Dublin, and 15mins between Strabane and Derry.

The free event will take plae on Wednesday, November 9, at 7pm all are welcome to attend.